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Vegetables at the centre
Peppers, pumpkins, onions and leaves stop being side notes and lead the dish.
Genovese
At first there seem to be almost too many onions. White or copper-skinned, chopped and gathered in the pot with olive oil, they outweigh the meat.
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Minestra caggianese
A bowl of Minestra caggianese brings together broth, vegetables and the aromas of boiled field herbs.
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Fillings that hold a Campania year
At Easter, Pastiera brings to the table work that began well before the first slice. Wheat grains soak until tender, then meet ricotta, citron and chocolate inside shortcrust pastry scented…
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Zuppa alla canavesana
Call it what the old kitchen lists called it: zuppa alla canavesana, a cabbage soup. The name already does half the work.
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Three soups, three ways to warm the Canavese table
What documented Canavese cooking puts on the table is not a single broth but a trio: a cabbage soup, a bean-and-pork tofeja, and a layered soup of ajucche with bread.
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Gnocchi di zucca
The documented preparation belongs to the Lombard areas of Brescia and Mantua, where pumpkin is not a garnish but the body of the dough.
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Broth, filled pasta and pumpkin: three Lombard gestures
Begin with the bowl associated with Pavia. Zuppa alla pavese is tied to that city, and it gains substance when a whole egg meets the hot soup.
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Parmigiana di melanzane
Begin with the aubergine itself. Cookery with this vegetable has especially deep roots in southern Italy and Sicily—a historical depth of attention, not a claim that the plant belongs to one…
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